When we took our first family vacation to Mexico in March, the resort where we stayed had a honey-orange margarita on the menu. It quickly became my wife’s favorite beverage that weekend– and she’s been talking about it since. So there’s no better way to kick off a crazy week (and a holiday week!) than with Margarita Monday. Enjoy this version of her favorite drink– our smoked honey-orange margarita– cooked on the Traeger. Best served with chips and guac!
A UNIQUE ORANGE ELEMENT
For this drink, we used Aperol to add a little orange burst to the otherwise largely-traditional margarita. While Aperol is not usually an ingredient in margaritas, we actually like it better than Cointreau or other orange liqueur. A little bit goes a long way, though.
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS
- Limes
- Oranges
- Lemons
- Honey
- Tequila
- Aperol
- Ice
- Sugar rim
WHY COOKING THE INGREDIENTS ON THE TRAEGER WORKS
By smoking the fruit on the grill for about 20 minutes before juicing it, you are able to draw out more juice and imbue a bit of wood-fired flavor in your final result. The extra juiciness of the fruit after a hot bath in the grill makes for a really good margarita mix. You get more juice for your drinks and the extra flavor is fantastic.
STEP-BY-STEP
- Preheat your Traeger grill to 225* with the super-smoke feature on.
- Wash the fruit, then cut each lemon, lime and orange in half.
- When the grill is hot, place the fruit, cut side down, on the grill grates.
- Allow the fruit to cook for about 15-20 minutes.
- Pull the fruit from the grill and allow to cool to the touch.
- In a cocktail shaker, squeeze the grilled fruit and some pulp.
- Repeat with remaining fruit.
- To the fruit juice, stir in a teaspoon of honey.
- Stir and adjust the quantity to taste.
- Pour in the Aperol.
- Then add the tequila.
- Close the lid of the shaker and shake the ingredients well.
- Rub a piece of lime around the rim of a glass.
- Then dip the glass rim in sugar on a plate.
- Fill the glass with ice cubes.
- Using the strainer, pour the drink over the ice.
- Garnish with an orange wheel and enjoy!
Sugared rim 
Citrus on the grill
SIMILAR RECIPES TO HONEY-ORANGE MARGARITA
There are lots of terrific ways to make cocktails on the Traeger– including these ones beow.
- Smoked Strawberry-Lime Whiskey Sour
- Peach Daiquiri
- Autumn Old Fashioned
- And if cooking with liquor is more your style, check out these recipes:
- Bourbon Steak Tips
Products used in this cook:
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Smoked Honey-Orange Margarita
Equipment
- Traeger grill
- Cocktail shaker
- citrus juicer
Ingredients
- 2 Limes
- 2 Oranges
- 2 Lemons
- 2 tsp Honey
- 2 shots Tequila
- 1/2 shot Aperol
- Ice
- Sugar rim
Instructions
- Preheat your Traeger grill to 225* with the super smoke feature on.
- Wash the fruit, then cut each lemon, lime and orange in half.
- When the grill is hot, place the fruit, cut side down, on the grill grates.
- Allow the fruit too cook fo about 15-20 minutes.
- Pull the fruit from the grill and allow to cool to the touch.
- In a cocktail shaker, squeeze the grilled fruit and some pulp.
- Repeat with remaining fruit.
- To the fruit juice, stir in a teaspoon of honey.
- Stir and adjust quantity to taste.
- Pour in the Aperol.
- Then add the tequila.
- Close the lid of the shaker and shake the ingredients well.
- Rub a piece of lime around the rim of a glass.
- Then dip the glass rim in sugar on a plate.
- Fill the glass with ice cubes.
- Using the strainer, pour the drink over the ice.
- Garnish with an orange wheel and enjoy!
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